Untitled Document On July 14, Rakiem Campbell tossed a concrete patio brick from an interstate overpass in Peoria, killing 26-year-old Katrina Kelley. Local prosecutors charged Campbell, 15, with first-degree murder. One month later, Bradley University soccer player Danny Dahlquist was killed in a fire when four of his buddies ignited fireworks under his […]
R. L. Nave
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Manage with care
Untitled Document After more than a year of preparation, the second phase of the state’s mandatory primary-care case-management program was rolled out this week to the remaining counties in central and southern Illinois, including Sangamon County. Gov. Rod Blagojevich announced the program, called Illinois Health Connect, in May 2006, saying that people are healthier when […]
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Get on the bus
Untitled Document Three years have passed since a determined bunch of local residents demanded that the Springfield Mass Transit District find ways to bring evening bus service back to the capital city. Legislation pending in the Illinois House, which would allow the SMTD to expand its taxing authority to all portions of Capital, Springfield, and […]
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Chasing ACES
Untitled Document Nine months after the expiration of the state’s 10-year freeze on electric rates, and nearly a year of caterwauling by Ameren and Commonwealth Edison customers and their elected representatives, Illinois finally has in place a $1 billion relief deal. Rebate checks and bill credits have captured most headlines across the state, for good […]
Posted inSpecial Issues
Power to the pumpkin people
Untitled Document The people have spoken — and they want their flying pumpkins. Earlier this summer, the Morton Chamber of Commerce, which has coordinated an annual punkin-chuckin’ contest since the mid-’90s, dropped a bomb by announcing that the contest would be suspended indefinitely. Despite the popularity of the sport, the number of entrants, who design […]
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Robbing Peter to pay Paul?
Untitled Document When Gov. Rod Blagojevich makes his case for expanding healthcare coverage to the bipartisan Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, it’ll be with a much quieter chorus of supporters behind him than when he first began his journey back in March. Although the head of the Campaign for Better Health Care — […]
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Crisis of credibility
As one of five employees who filed discrimination lawsuits against the Illinois Department of Natural Resources between 2002 and 2005, Kelvin Coburn once turned to the Illinois Association of Minorities in Government for assistance. But as a result of recent turmoil, including what he calls a media war between former IAMG executive director Roy Williams […]
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Off the table
Untitled Document Piatt County will not become home to a 45,000-square-foot white corn processing plant after all. Last week, Clarkson Grain, one of the firms involved — Molinero Inc., headquartered in Chicago, would be the primary occupant — withdrew its application for a permit to build the factory where masa, an ingredient in […]
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Energy hogs
Untitled Document Yuanhui Zhang knew that some people would pooh-pooh his research proposal to take the stink out of hog manure 11 years ago. He’s heard every joke and pun in the book, but Zhang is able to keep his sense of humor, partly because he realizes that the potential value of his research goes […]
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Walk it out
Untitled Document When Samuel Jackson asked U.S. Rep. Ray LaHood to support his “Thousand Fathers March” initiative, Jackson was taken aback by the congressman’s response. “How much do you need?” LaHood asked. “Nothing,” Jackson replied, a response that left LaHood, a former schoolteacher, equally shocked. Although modeled on similar endeavors, which entail moving busloads of […]
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Where there’s a Will
Untitled Document Joining several other lawmakers, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin has requested an investigation into the shooting death of freelance journalist and Illinois native Brad Will. A native of Kenilworth, Ill., Will was documenting social upheaval in the Mexican state of Oaxaca when he was shot and killed last fall when police opened fire on […]
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No calls, please
Untitled Document Customers flooded State Farm with calls after word got out that the Bloomington-based insurer would provide coverage for Apple’s pricey new iPhone. Many, however, met with disappointment. A Kansas resident says that the State Farm office he contacted received an emphatic no from underwriters in his state; a State Farm agent in Virginia […]
